London, June 26 (IANS): Drinking juice made from tart cherries reduces upper respiratory tract symptoms associated with marathon running, suggests a research.

Post-race sniffles are a common problem among endurance athletes.

"Many athletes can suffer from colds and sore throats following strenuous bouts of exercise, like marathon running and triathlons," said one of the researchers Glyn Howatson from Northumbria University in Britain.

"This is the first study to provide encouraging evidence of the potential role of Montmorency tart cherries in reducing symptoms associated with the development of exercise-induced respiratory problems," Howatson said.

For this study, 20 recreational marathon runners consumed two servings of either a placebo drink or a blend of Montmorency tart cherry juice combined with apple juice twice a day (morning and afternoon) for eight consecutive days -- five days leading up to a marathon, on the day of the race and two days afterwards.

The researchers found that marathon runners who consumed the tart cherry juice had lower markers for inflammation than a placebo group at 24 and 48 hours post-marathon and had no reported incidences of upper respiratory tract symptoms (URTS) up to 48 hours after the race.

For the runners who did not drink the tart cherry juice, 50 percent suffered from URTS.

The study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.